


And They Were Quarantined!

by Alexa_Piper



Series: Phic Phight 2020 [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Danny and Jazz share a single brain cell, Gen, Not a complete revelation but there's only one way he can go from here, revelation fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:23:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23807596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexa_Piper/pseuds/Alexa_Piper
Summary: Title says it all. Self-isolation may just be the end of him...Phic Phight prompt "And they were quarantined." by CatalystOfTheSoul.
Series: Phic Phight 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686727
Comments: 28
Kudos: 128





	And They Were Quarantined!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CatalystOfTheSoul](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatalystOfTheSoul/gifts).



Fenton family games nights were typically rare, chaotic evenings, usually cut short by wailing ghost alarms when the Box Ghost inevitably snuck onto the plane of the living to wreak his nightly havoc in the warehouses down by the docks. Monopoly was never finished, puzzles broke apart without ever being completed, and fragments of Jenga towers would dot the table the next day with no clear winner to be had. Sometimes Danny wondered what that said about his family’s relationships, when they couldn’t even finish one fun task together without something spectral ruining it.

Now, with the clock ticking in the background as Jack frowned over steepled fingers at the board in front of them, Danny silently wished for a miracle. “C’mon, Dad,” he coaxed when nobody moved for an entire minute. “It’s a  _ game, _ not life and death!”

Jack’s brow folded into deep creases. “Danny-boy, you never know when strategy will help you outsmart those nasty spooks!” he said. “Games like this are a great way to hone that skill! ... _ Aha!”  _ He slammed a handful of plastic trains down on the board… right where Danny had been planning on making his next move. Damn. “Now that, my boy, is  _ progress!” _

“Yes, dear,” Maddie hummed, and placed some of her own pieces on the board, cutting off the path that her husband would have likely taken next.

Danny huffed, slumping over his corner of the table. He rested his chin on the scarred wood and dolefully peered through his bangs as Jazz began her customarily long pause of contemplation before moving. She picked up a piece, hovering over a space before moving her hand away again with a pinched frown.

His dad was wrong. Ghost fights typically only lasted for a few minutes, just long enough for someone to get the upper hand. Either he’d suck his opponent into the thermos without little fanfare, or the ghost would escape and Danny would have to hunt it down, cursing his poor timing and general bad aim.

Ghost fights weren’t about strategy, they were about  _ luck, _ and arranging tiny coloured trains on a board to make the longest route wasn’t going to help Phantom when the Box Ghost came calling again…

Which wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Danny heaved a heavy sigh, ignoring the way his mum scowled at him. He kicked his feet and his sock snagged against a sharp spot where one of the lino squares had begun to lift off the floor. The edge broke through the fabric and tore into his skin, and Danny winced and sat back up, pulling his foot into his lap to inspect the damage.

Jazz finally placed a line of trains on the board, cutting off Danny’s plan yet again, and dark blood marbled with glowing ectoplasm welled to the surface of a neat slice across the ball of his foot.

“Ow,” he said, more as a reaction to the sight than the pain, and used the sleeve of his hoodie to stem the surprisingly rapid bleeding. It must be deeper than he thought.

“You okay?” Jack asked.

Danny shrugged and tried to appear casual despite the sudden hammering of his heart. His fingers were already damp through his sleeve. Oh, this was  _ bad. _ “Uh, I just cut myself on a broken bit of lino.” He met Jazz’s eyes and tried to communicate with the intensity of his stare how much trouble they were in. “I, uh, need to go stop the bleeding.”

Maddie frowned and got to her feet. “Let me see how bad it is.”

“No!” Danny clamped his mouth shut as soon as he realised what he’d said. He curled his fingers tighter around his bleeding foot, trying to focus on the throbbing pain of the cut instead of the raw terror that clawed at his lungs. His mother stopped short, her eyes going wide at the outburst, and he felt a pinch of guilt. “Uh, I mean, it’s not that bad. Just let me go clean it up.”

She stepped closer, which did nothing to soothe the way his heart battered against his ribcage. “If you’re not enjoying game night then you just have to say so,” she said, staring at the way he was holding the injury.

He didn’t move. The cut throbbed with every heartbeat, and the fingers wrapped up in his sleeve were now definitely wet with blood and ectoplasm. Danny looked helplessly to Jazz, but her eyes were just as wide as his, mouth hanging open as she watched this disaster unfold.

Danny screwed his eyes shut and took a slow, deep breath. Freaking out would accomplish nothing. If he was lucky, the bleeding would stop before it soaked through enough to see the incriminating green, and he could hide behind the excuse of boredom.

His mother sighed and he felt her soft hand on his shoulder. “I know these past few weeks have been frustrating. It’s hard for everyone. That’s why we closed the portal and locked up the lab, so we could spend time together as a family while we wait for this to be over. If you don’t want to play games every night then that’s okay.”

“Yeah!” Jack chimed in. “We can watch a movie together or something instead!”

Danny took another deep breath and risked a glance at his foot. Nothing was visible yet, and he couldn’t believe that he was actually going to get out of this in one piece. “Yeah,” he sighed, “sorry, guys. I guess this social isolation thing has me super stressed.”

Maddie rubbed his shoulder lightly. “It’s okay. We can take a break. Why don’t you go have a nice hot shower to relax a bit?”

Danny didn’t move. Jazz wiggled her eyebrows as though trying to communicate telepathically. After a moment of awkward silence she stood up as well. “Actually, I want a shower first!” she insisted. “I’m sick of everyone using the hot water up. Mum, could you please come and… um… help me change the light bulb in the bathroom? It wasn’t working before.”

Danny had to give it to her — his sister was a genius. If they got their mum out of the way then he was pretty sure he could hide his unnatural blood from their oblivious dad.

Maddie frowned. “It wasn’t broken when I went in there before,” she said.

Danny winced. He’d take it back — Jazz was an idiot. Their mother had only gone to the bathroom fifteen minutes ago, and she’d been the last person in there! How could they have forgotten?

Her fingers tightened around his shoulder. “Let me see your foot.”

Danny clamped his hand tighter over the stinging cut and tried not to squirm. “It’s fine.”

She glanced down, and he followed her gaze, flinching when he realised that she was staring at the vicious-looking corner of peeling linoleum. Her hand shifted to hover over his wrist, and Danny gulped and wondered how terrible it would be to turn invisible right now. He could pretend he’d been possessed before the portal was closed, and that the ghost had somehow managed to fool them for three long weeks…

The fallout would be bad. It would be very, very bad, since they’d end up blaming his ghost half and he  _ so _ didn’t need any more negativity in their relationship right now, but there was no other choice!

His mother tugged at his wrist but he held firm. He couldn’t let her see the mixture of blood and ectoplasm that leaked from the cut! His parents may be ignorant about a lot of things, but they knew enough for a single glimpse to condemn him.

Human tissue and bodily fluids dissolved in ectoplasm. They’d tested it extensively. If someone was cut while possessed, the combined human and ghost bleeding together would cause ectoplasmic burns that ate the flesh away down to the  _ bone. _

There was no other scientific explanation. If his parents saw this now, his secret was gone, and it’d be down to the lab for who knows  _ what _ kind of painful experiments that wouldn’t be broken by anyone coming to look for him because of this  _ damned _ quarantine and they’d keep Jazz away and he’d end up strapped to a table screaming for his afterlife as they carved him up into little tiny pieces and —

Danny’s breath hitched and, in his panic, he forgot to turn invisible as she finally tugged his hand away.

The kitchen went still. Maddie’s fingers tightened ever so slightly around his wrist, and Danny watched in horror as a perfectly balanced mixture of sanguine blood and radioactive green ectoplasm poured from his cut and dripped onto the floor.


End file.
